Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley USPS 349 - 52Q Vol 83 No 39 April E 1993 Utah Court Upholds Death Sentence Kate HtUenhrand The Utah Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of convicted killer Michael Anthony Archuleta who tortured a Cedar City student to death in 1988 Archuleta and his companion Lance Conway Wood kidnapped Gordon Ray Church 28 years old after Church agreed to drive the two to Salt Lake City on November 22 1988 Instead the two men drove him 76 miles to a secluded area in Millard County where he was tortured and killed The jury that convicted Archuleta concluded that the murder was "espeexcially heinous atrocious cruel ceptionally depraved the court noted in its ruling The Supreme Court concluded that despite an error in jury instruction the jury 's guilty verdict was by the evidence The Court also concluded that "the imposition of the death penalty was justified and appropriate" Archuleta has been sentenced to die by injection Wood because he was barely 20 years old at the time of the killing was sentenced to life in prison and has been transferred to a prison in Boise Idaho for his own protection because he testified against Archuleta at the trial Archuleta appealed his conviction based on the following: He claimed police arrested him solely to gather evidence against him on the Church murder The court found that an arrest warrant was issued for Archuleta before the murder because he violated his parole Archuleta was arrested on that warrant It was legal for police to question him about the murder even though he was arrested for another crime the court concluded Archuletadaimed confessions made to police after his arrest should not have been admitted at trial because he did not have a lawyer present or understand his right not to incriminate himself The court concluded police repeatedly read Archuleta's rights to him Archuleta asked to speak to police officers without an attorney waived his rights and confessed to the murder the ruling says “The officers involved scrupulously honored defendant’s rights" the justices concluded Archuleta claimed a juror was improperly dismissed because she said she could not impose the death penalty However the justices found that the trial judge dismissed the juror because she was taking medication for depression and believed her depression could affect her during the trial Archuleta claimed that a witness at the trial inaccurately testified that he had been seen on the day of the murder with a knife strapped to his hip That statement put him in a bad light with the jury he claimed He believed the jury improperly concluded that he not his partner Lance Wood made superficial cuts on Church's throat before the murder The Supreme Court noted that the judge had instructed the jury to disregard the testimony from that witness "Moveover the superficial cuts on Church's throat were minuscule compared to the heinous torture and death he later suffered" the ruling says Archuleta claimed the judge gave unclear instructions about the importance of Archuleta's object rape of Church The justices agreed w ith this part of Archuleta's appeal The instructions were “unclear enough to amount to error" the ruling says However the court concluded that the vague instructions did not impact the jury’s guilty verdict or warrant overturning the death penalty photo by Sue Dutson Auctioned Horses Under Investigation by Federal Agents Kale HtUenbrand Officials from the US Bureau of Land management in Utah and Nevada are investigating whether 144 horses sold at the Delta Livestock Auction on March 22nd were wild horses stolen from public lands in Nevada Sherm Tolbert manager of the Livestock Auction held every Monday in Delta alerted Sue Dutson publisher of the Chronicle Progress that the sale would be one of the largest in the history of the Slate of Utah officers investigation Although from the DWR and BLM could not find enough evidence to stop the sale an is continuing into the investigation question of where the horses came from and whether they were indeed wild according to public affairs specialist for the BLM in Reno Nevada Most of the horses were allegedly sold to a slaughterhouse for pet food Mr Don Banks a spokesperson for the BLM in Utah said “a number of questions" have been raised about the ownership documents that arrived with the horses Supposedly the horses came from a rancher in Austin Nevada Wolf Hybrid Dog Hurts Girl in Fillmore Kate HtUenbrand A four year old Fillmore girl is covering from a complex two hour surgery for injuries on her legs and back after she and a wolf hybrid dog had a misunderstanding in the backyard of a Fillmore home The animal a 9 month old mix of wolfmalamuteblack bclgian was owned by the Richard and Diane family and Mrs Dastrup says the member of animal was a the family “It happened so fast” said Mr Richard Dastrup “All we know is what the kids have told us It has really upset us and our entire family This is something that little girl will have to live with for the rest of her life" Millard County Sheriffs deputies DeVon Quamberg and Rob Lang investigated the incident The incident happened on March 21st at approximately 3:30 pm when the little girl entered the family’s back yard to play with the family's younger children According to the various reports the dog was chained to a "tiedown” but managed to free one end and dragged its chain over to the trampoline area where the children were playing “The dog evidently became aggressive with the little girl she started screaming and that excited the dog and it attacked her” said Deputy Quamberg The little girl was taken to the Fillmore hospital where she stayed overnight for the after undergoing surgery stitches In a release issued by Tom Provin director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources as of June 15 1992 wolf hybrids are no longer considered “wildlife" and arc no longer under DWR jurisdiction They are considered in the same category as dogs and as such are under the jurisdiction of animal control "This does not mean that possession of hybrids is legal by other state or local agency standards" continues the release “Wolf hybrids are still considered to be wildlife according to the rabies law of the Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines Rabies shots will not be given by veterinarians in this slate because the wolf hybrid is not eligible to be vaccinated" continues Mr Provin “The way I understand it the state of Utah doesn't recognize any effective rabies vaccine for wolf hybrid animals" says Deputy Quamberg the Dastrup dog a Nevertheless spayed female named Shasta (or had been vaccinated by a veterinarian in Provo said Deputy Quamberg Mrs Dastrup adds that the dog had had all of its shots “But the US Department of Agriculture doesn’t recognize it as a vaccinated animal” said Deputy Quamberg The animal was euthanized and sent to the Slate Health Department for analysis Diane Dastrup says that her family has had wolf hybrids before “They are a nice animal" said Mrs Dastrup "They are very intelligent and we have them for twelve years and had no problems in the past" Ironically the Dastrup's were in the process of relocating the dog to the breeders from whom they bought the animal Mrs Dastrup explains that she had some difficulty in locating the breeders because they had moved from Idaho to Utah but within three days the dog would have been moved The Fillmore City had asked the Das trups to relocate the animal outside the city limits "We had made arrangements to take the animal back up to them because of the city’s decision" says Mrs Dastrup “These people have proof that the vaccine is effective on wolf hybrids and they are the ones who got the law changed about wolf hybrids in the first place" “This has been devastating to my continues Mrs Dastrup daughter" “She slept in bed with her and she was expecting to pick up the animal today and take it to the breeders Now she doesn’t even have a collar to bury" This is not the first lime the Das trups have had trouble with their dogs A year ago two puppies w ere poisoned in their chainlinked back yard "No more big dog s" says Mrs Dastrup “And no more dogs outside period" The results from the State lab are unknown and the little girl is doing fairly well says Deputy Quamberg “She probably doesn't like dogs very much anymore" PUBLIC NOTICES II f ' Burn your drains It's getting control received a lot that it needed is appreciated to be th at the lime of y ear ag ain to concern ourselves with ir Our w orkers are busy burning drains again In the past w c ha ve of help burning the drains when we have reminded every ore to be done Any help you can give us by burning your drains more than you may know West Millard Mosquito Abatement District Sheriff's Deputy John Kimball snow" says Deputy Lang left and Rob Lang right surprise cultists " They were easy to track in the Big Break in Standoff in Desert Sheriff’s Deputies Capture Cultists Ten Texas men were arrested late Thursday morning at their secluded compound near Black Rock in the West Millard County Desert The men were apparently committing a federal crime by attempting to erect a satellite link between themselves and their religious cult leader David Korcsh and fellow followers w ho are currently still isolated at their fortified Branch Davidian compound outside Waco Texas The photo above shows Millard County Sheriff Deputies John Kimball Rocky Mt Elk and Rob Lang arresting the only minutes before their message of lovehale and war and “dominance peace" was to be beamed to Koresh as ell as the rest of the Western World via television and radio Commenting on the incident on scene Millard County Sheriff Ed Phillips stated: "This is an outrage! The arrest of these men was clearly a blatant violation of their first amendment rights Thus I have commanded my men to release the prisoners immcdi- Foundation Banquet Works for Wildlife DarreU McMahon DWR Wildlife Biologist The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is an international nonprofit conservation organization whose mission is to ensure the future for elk and other wildlife by con serving restoring and enhancing natural habitats Since its inception in 1984 the RMEF’s 70000 members have helped raise more than S30 million to conserve and enhance 11 million acres of habitaL In Utah alone the RMEF has helped generate 37 million dollars in matching funds for habitat enhancement acquisition research and conservation education efforts Over 50 projects have been funded in Utah including the following of local interest Canyon range research elk study a radiolclemetry study to determine elk and habitat utilization movements S10500 total cost 2 Dameron Canyon Chaining and Reseeding: Designed to improve the forage cover ratio increase available big game forage (especially in winter) and reduce private land depredation on 600 acres in the Fillmore Ranger District in the Fishlake National Forest south of Kanosh $20(XK) total cost 3 Indian Peak Chaining: Remove dense stands of from 700 acres in the Beaver Riv cr Resource Area in the BLM Cedar City District and reseed with grasses forbs and shrubs to increase forage for elk livestock and wild horses S51100 total cost Lance Schelvan on the executive staff for the RMEF recently said “Special interest groups by definition seek to further narrowly defined interest Groups have been formed to focus on wild turkeys sheep bears and other creatures occupy ing only small comers in North America's rich wildlife scene The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's fascination with wapiti seems like a mighty narrow focus to some But the truth is we are broader than our name implies In little more than eight years we’ve put S30 million into wildlife habitat benefiting many more species than just w apiti" Lance also said "In 1992 the Roper Organization conducted a National Environmental Forum Survey for Times Mirror Magazines This study the largest of its kind and certainly the most comprehensive came to sev eral conclu- sions i Hiut people wildlife and the land Tj begin with most people consider themselves conservationists and consider the health of nearly the environment to be more important than economic growth In fact of the people surveyed believe taking care of the environment and economic grow th go hand in hand" In conclusion Lance slated "Organizations like he Elk Foundation kindle special interest in conservation matters that don't just focus on human needs Our responsibility is to wildlife But the health of people is dependent on the health of the land and the life it supports We who most admire wildlife understand that relationship Yes we are a special interest group It’s about time There's a special job ahead if we arc to improve wildlife habitat with the spirit and speed that has improved w atcr and air quality in the last decade I’m proud to be in a group willing to stay focused on winterrange and the wildlife that live there What could have broader more impact than protecting a piece of land?" On April 16 1993 the local Pahvant Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is sponsoring a fundraising dinner Anyone wiih an interest in “Working for Wildlife" and wants to help improve wildlife habitat or the health of our environment is invited to attend It is going to be held at the County fair ground building in Delta Meal tickets cost S45 a couple or S35 single which includes the S25 membership to RMEF and subscription to the Bugle magazine and Wapiti newspaper The meal only without the membership costs S15 and includes a buffet with prime nb shrimp and chicken catered by the Chef s Palace Too For more information or tickets contact in the Delta area: Aaron Nissen Harold Knight Rick Moody Kevin Bogue Tom Stephenson James Burr Rex Stanworth Lee Bryce Pilling Goodrich Mark Perry Mike Staheli Dave Edwards or in the Fillmore area: Darrell McMahon 7 4 9 Ron Bums Abe Johnson ately" Only seconds later FBI agents stormed the site and arrested Philips whom they believed has led the group known as “Those Kruzy Korevhian Kids" since early March Pre'Vnt Rill Clmion re Governor Mike Leavitt held a joint conference proclaiming "God Bless America and God Bless this desert paradise but most of all God bless April Fool's Day and these kinds of tom foolery" Dead Beat Dads Beware Kate HtUenbrand Judge Lynn W Davis sent out a strong message to fathers delinquent in their back payments during District Court Wednesday March 24th in Fillmore Court House When a local man appeared before Judge Davis in a complaint brought by his recovery of the money the defendant told the Court that he as not able to work because of disabilities Judge Davis responded: “You have a minor child to support and that is your responsibility It is not the responsibility of the taxpayers If you do not take affirmative steps in securing employment within a reasonable amount of time you may as well be sitting in Millard County Jail thinking about your child support obligations on a daily basis for a considerable amount of lime" The father ow es a balance of S41 00 past payments due in S200 monthly installments Judge Davis ordered the counselor for the State of Utah Dept of Human Services Paul F Graf (also Assistant Attorney General for the Slate of Utah) to monitor the case “Do not appear before me without making diligent and reasonable efforts to secure a means to support the minor child which you have borne" warned Judge Davis in Potential CDBG “Stimulus” funding The Six County AOG announces the of additional funding possibility through the Community Development Block Grant Program for FY These funds have not been allocated at this time Only construcuon type projects qualify The project must be supported by a city county or regional government and must benefit low and moderate come people within the Six County Region Because of the brief application time frame projects with a short completion period will be given a higher priority All those interested in applying for this potential funding contact Shirlecn at the Six County EDD Office LowTy will have to be obtained from the Six County EDD Office completed and relumed no later than April 19 to be considered |